IT WASN'T the result he had been looking for on his return, but Shane Williams was happy to be back on home turf - and the Osprey fans were certainly glad to see him.

The scenes following his team's Celtic League defeat to Leinster at The Gnoll on Saturday showed that Shanemania is well and truly experiencing its second coming.

It took the mud-spattered Williams some 25 minutes to get off the pitch and into the sanctuary of the changing room as he negotiated hordes of young autograph hunters and a succession of TV, radio and press interviews.

Even the visiting Irish media were queuing up to speak to the diminutive wing - a reflection of the mark he made with Wales at the World Cup.

Leinster's leading lights are clearly also converts to the cult of Shane, with star centre Brian O'Driscoll, coach Gary Ella and his assistant Willie Anderson all praising his performance.

And rightly so, because Williams was by some distance the Ospreys' best player, offering a threat every time he got the ball with his side-stepping wizadry.

Playing in front of some 4,000 fans in Neath was a bit different from his last outing, when he dazzled a 45,000-plus crowd in the World Cup quarter-final against England at Brisbane's Suncorp Stadium.

But, while he may have relished his time in Australia, Williams still has a soft spot for The Gnoll.

"It's nice to be back home to be honest," he said.

"I love playing down here and I was looking forward to the game.

"As soon as I got on the field I thoroughly enjoyed it."

As for his army of young admirers, Williams is now able to take such adulation more in his stride having been through it once before on his entry into the Test arena in 2000.

"You do hear the support, especially when you are on the wing," he said.

"It's great to have such a following, especially with the kids.

"I remember I used to come to The Gnoll when I was a youngster and follow players like Ieuan Evans, so I know what it feels like."

Williams was pretty content with his own display against Leinster, but obviously less happy with the result - a 36-25 defeat - and the fact that his side conceded six tries.

"There were patches in the game where I felt I couldn't get into it, but I was fairly pleased with my performance," he said.

"But it was disappointing to lose. We put a lot of pressure on them and were rewarded with a lot of penalties.

"Maybe there should have been a few yellow cards on their side with the amount of penalties they gave away.

"We were very much in it for an hour and we would have been with them at the end if we hadn't let silly tries in.

"I thought our defence was poor at times. We were a bit weak to be honest.

"I think it's something we are going to have to address and work on during the week.

"If we defend like that in Europe, then we are going to have problems.

"We can't afford to do that at this level."

The Ospreys will begin their Heineken Cup campaign away to Leeds Tykes next Sunday.

"That's going to be a tough game and we need to step up from this performance," said Williams.

At least the Ospreys won't have to face Leinster - and in particular Brian O'Driscoll - in the group stage of Europe.

Lions centre O'Driscoll scored two tries and caused havoc throughout the game, impressing Williams in the process.

"He can really pull it out of the bag," said the Wales wing.

"One minute you think he's quiet and then he does something like he did out there.

"When he runs at teams, he can rip defences apart.

"All credit to Leinster. Their forwards were massive, but they've got such ball-handling skill.

"And when you have got someone like O'Driscoll playing the way he did out there, it is going to be difficult.

"They just wore us down in the end. There had a lot of fit boys and when they come in hordes like that it's hard to defend.

"Leinster are one of the best teams in Europe. Hopefully, it won't get much harder than that for us.

"We said when this region started it wasn't going to happen overnight."